Learn to Wait
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
Advent begins not with noise or instant results but with a quiet invitation to learn how to wait. Yet this invitation goes directly against the culture in which we live. Today the world moves at a tremendous speed, and everything is designed to satisfy us immediately. We have instant coffee, instant food, instant entertainment, instant relationships, and even instant answers. Because of this, our minds have been shaped to expect quick solutions. Silence becomes uncomfortable, and it has become difficult for many people even to sit still for ten minutes. But God does not work in this instant world. God works slowly, carefully, and patiently. God works in His own time, not ours.
A simple butterfly teaches us this truth. The butterfly goes through a long, hidden, and painful transformation inside the cocoon before it becomes beautiful. If someone tries to help the butterfly by giving extra heat so that it comes out sooner, the butterfly may emerge, but it will be weak and unable to fly, and it will die quickly. Beauty cannot be rushed. Growth cannot be forced. Life requires waiting. The same truth applies to the child in the womb. Every mother waits for nine months before her child is born. She carries, suffers, hopes, and prepares. But today even this natural waiting is threatened by our impatience. In some places, influenced by astrology or superstition, parents take their babies out earlier than the proper time, believing that a certain date may give the child a better destiny. Yet such practices never bring success, because one cannot fast-forward God’s design. Life unfolds only when we respect its timing.
A small personal experience also taught me the importance of waiting. Two weeks ago, Louis Cramer and I went fishing. We waited for a very long time, but caught nothing. We changed the hook, changed the place, and even tried feeding the fish, but nothing worked. We became impatient and told each other that perhaps we had no luck that day. Before returning home, I told him we would try just one last time. On that final attempt, we caught a big Bass. We were overjoyed, and we realized that patience truly brings happiness. There is also a beautiful saying in Tamil: “Odu meen oda, uru meen varum varaikkum vadi irukkumam kokku.” It means, “While the small fish swim away, the stork waits patiently for the bigger one.” The stork is not distracted by little things; it waits for the right blessing. The proverb encourages us to be patient and to wait for the greater reward instead of running after small, temporary gains.
Carlo Carretto, the spiritual writer who lived as a hermit in the Sahara Desert, once asked a question that touches our modern lives deeply: “What is God trying to say to us in our busy lives?” His answer was simple yet profound: “Be patient! Learn to wait—for each other, for love, for happiness, for God!” Advent is precisely this: a season in which God teaches us to slow down, to be still, to make space, and to wait for Him. The Scriptures of this first Sunday of Advent echo the same message. Isaiah speaks of a future filled with peace, but one that will come only when we learn to walk in the light of the Lord. Saint Paul urges us to “wake up” from our spiritual sleep and to live in hope because salvation is near. Jesus reminds us to stay awake and ready—not by rushing or forcing anything, but by being patient and watchful.
Waiting forms the soul. There is a beautiful saying in apocalyptic writings: “God is never in a hurry.” Another says, “Every tear brings the Messiah closer.” And another reminds us, “It is with much groaning of the flesh that the life of the Spirit is brought forth.” These lines teach that before God does anything great, He prepares our hearts through waiting. Before Christ was born, there were centuries of longing, centuries of hope, centuries of silence. Even Mary waited nine months for Jesus. Everything holy, everything meaningful, everything precious comes only through waiting.
Many of us lose our inner peace and happiness because we no longer know how to wait. We expect life to give us instant results. When things take longer, we call it bad luck. When God is silent, we think He has abandoned us. When problems last longer than we expect, we become frustrated. But waiting is not empty time. Waiting is where God shapes us, strengthens us, matures us, and reveals who we truly are. Waiting is beautiful because in waiting we discover our identity and our purpose.
As we begin this Advent season, we are invited to let God reset our hearts. Advent asks us to slow down, to trust the gentle rhythm of God’s timing, and to allow God to work in us without rushing Him. We are called to wait for God’s promise, to wait for His peace, and to wait for Christ to be born again in our hearts. We should not fear waiting, nor should we rush God, nor spoil the season with impatience. The One who comes to us comes gently, slowly, and beautifully. Advent becomes a school where we rediscover the sacred art of waiting—waiting with hope, with love, and with trust. In learning to wait, we learn to receive God Himself.
Amen.